Video: Oh Shit, a Bear!

Aug 23, 2014 at 19:58
by Karl Burkat  


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Member since Jan 1, 2000
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130 Comments
  • 665 5
 If you listen close you can hear the bear yell strava
  • 48 6
 As I read this, you have 4 props. I hope you have the most of anyone when I read this next.
  • 9 1
 Best comment!
  • 28 34
flag chyu (Aug 23, 2014 at 22:43) (Below Threshold)
 It was bearclaw's run.
  • 31 0
 Poor guy....the bear stole his KOM
  • 13 1
 chyu's comment was hard to bear Wink
  • 3 22
flag andrewgiant (Aug 24, 2014 at 16:01) (Below Threshold)
 i cant hear it what time?
  • 10 0
 that's a bear-claw I wouldn't invite.
  • 6 0
 Rider bear-ly started his descent
  • 8 1
 i can't bear these comments
  • 84 0
 no biggie, if you live in BC it's pretty common. The one thing you don't want to encounter is a Cougar, that's a whole different matter.
  • 282 1
 Yeah some of those cougars are pretty haggered and looking for fresh young riders.
  • 60 1
 Looked like he was worried about momma seeing that was a cub. As far as a cougar, seeing them is generally safer than not seeing them.
  • 22 0
 now i noe why you guys are fast even an average joe ...
  • 62 0
 really its the 2 legged cougars you gotta watch out for
  • 13 39
flag lostlunchbox (Aug 23, 2014 at 21:17) (Below Threshold)
 ^ They're more bitter because someone cut two of their legs off?...
  • 39 1
 That's why as guys under 30, we should travel in pairs...
  • 31 3
 In Mother-Canada...Cougar rides you!
  • 12 7
 Having bears run out infront of you is pretty darn normal here in Whis, my room-mate ran into one on the valley trail biking home at night. They're in my yard eating my strawberries or just passing by at least 1x a week in the summer, meh. People make it out to be a much bigger deal than it is. Don't bother them, and they wont bother you.
  • 34 0
 Black bears range is pretty much all over N. America. Seeing a black bear isn't a big deal per say. But seeing a black bear cub run out in front of you, while focusing on a trail, not knowing where the mother is, It's a serious situation. Let's see you stand between a mother and its cub and just be like 'meh'...
  • 10 3
 I did the other week in the bike park... mother was sitting eating grass on one side of the trail cubs on the other. They weren't moving anytime soon, so we just went by, no big deal, they didn't even flinch from grazing. Honestly the bears here in Whistler do not care. There are mothers with 2 and 3 cubs all over the place. They are conditioned to human presence, there hasn't ever been a bear attack here ever and I've seen some pretty dumb things with tourists taking photos mere feet away from them with their cubs, etc. I'm sure people get between various mothers and their cubs on a daily basis in the bike park, but just keep on moving, they don't really care around here. Hell they've figured out how to break into peoples houses with people still in the houses and raid your food. Just have to give them respect and room when possible and not leave your garbage out. These bears (especially the ones in the bike park) are surrounded by people and bikers from the moment they're born, they're still bears, but they don't behave like grizzly bears in alaska if that makes sense. There is so much garbage and other food around here they don't really bother people expect when people don't follow bylaws and take care of their trash properly, or leave their house doors open.
  • 9 0
 bears in whistler r like cows in texas they don't really care
  • 3 0
 Except that I gather this is in Yukon. Many bear issues here, and very abundant. Wouldn't want to run into one...
  • 3 0
 nadiasamer- Although you're right that the bears in Whistler are very tame, I'd like to point out that your claim that there's never been a bear attack in Whistler is very wrong indeed. Although rare, they do happen. Here's the one that I heard about when I was living there: news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/04/b-c-black-bear-destroyed-after-swatting-man-in-whistler-hot-tub
  • 1 0
 JMSmitty; " Black bears range is pretty much all over N. America. Seeing a black bear isn't a big deal per say." There are alot of misconceptions about bear types & behavior in North America. You are partially correct in that for the most part the majority of all bears will avoid human interaction. However most predatory attacks on humans (where the bear actively seeks out, stalks & attacks humans) are done by male black bears. Grizzly predatory behavior toward humans is very rare with most attacks stemming from a mother with cubs, the bear being startled or getting between a bear & it's kill. As for cougars...Anyone who has biked or spent any time outdoors will have undoubtably passed within mere feet of a carnivore & not even been aware, if we were a food source for these animals there would be a lot less of us...
  • 4 0
 bears in whistler are like honey badgers anywhere. don't care. sliding down the trail because you've got no grip? honey badger don't care.
  • 1 0
 Agreed. The cougar I accidentally chased down a section of trail in Pemberton definitely got my heart racing more than any black bear encounter I've ever had.
  • 2 0
 Just to add to my comment, If you are biking in BC this fall, be very aware that this summer was extremely dry & the wild berry crop is almost nonexistant. In areas where salmon are not readily available to bears, the wild berries are a major food source, no wild berries & they will try to get food from any source especially as they are heading into their hyperphagia cycle (bulking up for hibernation). if a bear is hungry & deperate enough for food it will resort to desparate measures.
  • 4 0
 haggard cougs. I lol'd.
  • 4 0
 Canadian's attitudes to bears is like Australian's attitudes to spiders and snakes, we both realise they're not that much of a big deal
  • 4 0
 Soon I'll post videos of our kamikaze pigeons. They are fat, lazy and so stupid they will kamikaze themselves straight into your face.
  • 2 0
 www.pinkbike.com/video/362934 Mountain Lion Scared Shitless (5:15)
  • 1 0
 ....lostlunchbox is a knob
  • 79 0
 Guns, bears, kids, cows, sheep all things that I now look out for on the trails
  • 41 0
 In the uk you gotta look out for rabbits!! And heroin addicts!!
  • 1 12
flag missingfile (Aug 23, 2014 at 23:45) (Below Threshold)
 lol ur funny bro
  • 33 0
 That bear fled the scene pretty quick... seems suspicious... like he was up to sumn
  • 35 1
 He was stealing picanic baskets!!!!!
  • 1 0
 @randybadger literally PMSL!!
  • 34 2
 The bear jumped onto the trail faster than the sierra club to stop the rider
  • 27 0
 Heyyyy this is my video
  • 22 1
 only thing I have to look out for on trails is dog and horse shit.
  • 11 1
 What about dog shit & horses?
  • 2 0
 ??????????
  • 1 0
 I narrowly missed a fox the other night at Cathkin, thats about as wild as it gets around here! Rabbits, foxes and dog shit.
  • 3 0
 I ran over a hare once. It proper started on me, jumped up and started kicking the shit out of me.
  • 1 0
 only thing I've narrowly missed at Cathkin is dogs and old gay men at broken biscuits lol
  • 1 0
 "It proper started on me". Classic.
  • 17 0
 In australia kangaroos are what you have to look out for
  • 6 0
 like killer kangaroos???
  • 43 0
 If you see one with boxing gloves then run for it
  • 5 0
 No they're not killer, just stupid. Mate was taken down by one practising for a gravity enduro round. They come out of nowhere and just cut across you, others have been taken out on dh runs. Hurts a bit when they're the size of a big bloke!!
  • 9 0
 I heard drop bears were pretty dangerous too Wink
  • 3 0
 Some of them have even started training in MMA: youtu.be/wwXINuTp1vg
  • 2 0
 @ray, roos do enduro? Seems legit! ;-)
  • 1 0
 A kangaroo was practicing for a gravity enduro round? I imagine they'd be alright at that.
  • 16 1
 Shimano Brakes nuff said
  • 7 0
 I guess now that I think about it, this is why I still ride with my shitty wailing Avid brakes. I haven't seen a bear on the trail in years.
  • 2 0
 maybe thats the reasoning for my elixir 5s making so dam much noise. and the terrible braking power must be for if the noise doesnt scare it away you just inadvertantly run into it when you cant stop.
  • 1 0
 The XT break noise with the element of surprise really freaked out a pair of 2 year old grizzly cubs for me once. But the following year there was reports of a grizzly bear charging but not attacking mountain bikers in the same area. I will always wonder if that is one of the grizzly's I scared.
  • 10 1
 I have t boned a black bear on a night ride in the late 80s. Lack of proper lighting and twisty singletrack led me to think i drifted off the trail line and was heading for a granite boulder until it screamed in pain as i smashed into it and tore off into the woods away from the berry bushes i surprised him at, doing the bear equivalent of swearing at me.
  • 2 0
 Awesome
  • 9 0
 On a ride with a friend near Cranbrook BC I was flowing along and what looked like a dog darted out of the bush in front of me on the trail. As I looked around to see if I could spot the owner another one appeared in the woods keeping pace with me, then another just behind it, and another on the other side. Turns out they were wolves and they kept pace for about a minute before veering off up a cut block and looking down on us from the ridge above. It all happened so fast. I love living in BC. Black Bears can do some damage no doubt, but growing up in and around the Rockies, I tend to exhale a bit when you notice the bear doesn't have a boxy head and a big hump.
  • 2 0
 That's sick! Being from the Yukon it's common to run into bears. Luckily it's mainly black bear and they often run. If it's a grizzly though it's much scarier due to how unpredictable they can be
  • 2 0
 I didnt see any bears today, but my favourite trail runs through an abandoned apple orchard full of raspberry bushes, the trail was slick with purple shit this afternoon!
  • 2 1
 I've been caught post sunset without anything more than a little LED blinker light and having to ride out THRU a trail that ran right thru the multiple den system of the local timberwolf pack as they were emerging for the night, listening to the pups yelping away and growls from adults who were none to pleased for me to be there at the time. It was go through them, or turn around and ride back an hour with no light on a trail that has maimed people in bright sunny daylight. I eventually had to get off and walk beside the bike because i totally couldn't maintain sight of the trail for how much light I had beyond like 6 feet ahead of me. Honestly around here the deer are the biggest hazard to riders... the wolves generally ignore people, the coyotes generally ignore people, the foxes and lynx and bobcats all run away, as do the skunks and porcupines and even the black bears.... the few mountain lions have been making an effort not to be seen let alone encountered close up, and even the wolverines run and hide in the bushes. But the deer and the moose...they just stand there next to the trail and do the least sensible things when startled, like jumping across in front of you putting antlers in your face in the process (if they don't take you out in a collision with their rather tall bodies).
  • 9 0
 Darrens family reuinion?
  • 2 0
 hahaha had this happen to me last night in northern alberta, cruising down a paved path, choke cherries all over the path, a few branches pulled down...I was thinking bear and around the next corner there he was.... I yelled at him but he did not even turn around, he was to stoked on the choke cherry feast I guess.
  • 1 0
 Had this happen to be on Naheeno Trail on Burnaby Mountain last year. Instead of taking off, the bear started climbing a tree right beside the trail. I kept riding and passed within arms reach of the bear six foot up the tree.
  • 1 0
 Had this happen in Kamloops. Came around the blind corner and bam a bear on the trail. Didn't stop figured he'd be scared and run first since we both got spooked by each other. Since there was no time I figured if he attacked and I could jump the bike off the trail and let him ch ewon my bike instead of me while I ran away as fresh meat.
  • 1 0
 Almost hit a momma brown bear and her two cubs once on a road bike. Flying downhill, come around a hairpin, and they come running out from under the guardrail crossing the road. Scary shit, but I feel for this guy who has no quick escape.
  • 1 0
 I came across a black bear in my first 5 mins of arriving at my accommadation in whistler just went outside to look round and one just walked across the driveway fair to say from then on kept my room window shut awsome site though especially the mum and cub i had to stop for on B-line
  • 1 0
 A friend of mine was felling a tree when he felt something rubbing on his leg, Her looked back and saw a black bear cub! He dropped his naerly new Stihl and ran to his truck. He did not want to meet momma. he waited until the next morning to go back for his saw he was so spooked.
  • 1 0
 In July, while out on a ride on Vancouver Island, a bear about this size ran out in front of me and hauled ass down the trail. But I was so baked outta my tree, didn't even think about the momma bear. Cougars though.... damn! I'd like to get my dirty paws on a cougar. Big Grin
  • 1 0
 Seriously though, if anybody does come across that bear then please don't hesitate to contact the local authorities as he is wanted for questioning for his alleged involvement in the theft of several picnic baskets.
  • 1 0
 I had the same thing happen to me here outside of Asheville. It almost clipped me coming onto the trail, I scared it and it took off. It stopped a few hundred yards later and we both just stared at each other.
  • 4 0
 yeah that wasnt that much to worry about just a tiny little bear.
  • 1 0
 I can't remember where I saw it but, in an old mtb video from the probably the mid-late 90s, a DH racer at a Norba National (I think it was a Norba anyway) clipped a bear in their race run.
  • 4 1
 Oh shit, a bear, Be cool, fool, this ain't gonna get scary, all he wants is fuckin' berries...
  • 4 0
 The perfect Shimano brake commercial
  • 1 0
 I once had a black bear come running out straight towards me across a road during a road race. Luckily it noticed me at the last second and spun around to where it came from. If it hadn't looked up I would've been hit.
  • 2 0
 I've had this happen with moose on numerous rides. Frankly, I'm more frightened of the moose because the males can be super aggressive.
  • 3 1
 So...do you guys carry bear mace? Does it work for cougars? Getting eaten alive is my worst fear aside from getting decapitated by religious extremists...
  • 2 0
 Bear mace works on anything. Sprayed an aggressive moose years ago, worked well. Just don"t spray it on the ground as a deterrant, bear mace will actually attract bears, & yes, carry bear mace, it is safer & more effective than using a gun.
  • 3 0
 Sounds good, the old lady and I are moving up to the PNW next summer so I'll be sure to get some.

I'd never use a gun--way against killing any animals, regardless of situation.

If anything, I'd rather strap a knife to my leg and fight the f*ckers off con el estilo de los vatos locos!
  • 1 0
 Ran into two bears on separate occasions in CO and they both ran away from me. Wildlife is cool as long as they don't attack you! I heard that mountain lions and cougars are a different story.
  • 2 0
 I've been coming across a lot of squirrels lately. Little buggers keep darting out right in front of me. I really hope I don't squish one, that would really ruin my day.
  • 3 0
 If a mountain biker craps in the woods....???
  • 3 0
 Happened to me and I had the same exact reaction: f*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ckf*ck
  • 3 0
 The buck in South Africa are more dangerous than those bears up there...
  • 2 1
 But the bucks don't maul and eat and bury you barely alive. I'll take the buck.
  • 2 0
 These buck here run into you leaving you impaled on their horns for hours writhing in agony:-)
  • 2 0
 I've never heard so many F words in such succession... It was almost impressive.
  • 2 0
 Bears cool I do a bit of watching when I see one. Moose and Cougars are something I hate approaching.
  • 2 0
 Pshh, one time there were two chickens in front of me. Didn't even flinch.
  • 3 1
 more like an "oh f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck" moment
  • 1 0
 Happened to me twice in one ride... I think I yelled 'Hey Bear!?' in a questionable tone of voice.
  • 2 0
 That reaction, it's perfect, haha.
  • 5 3
 That was unBEARable. Budum tssss
  • 2 0
 Wanna see more bears ? Buy an enduro !!
  • 2 0
 Thats because traildogs are for kidsSmile
  • 1 0
 I remember turning a corner once and thinking - hmm that burnt out tree sure looks like a moose...then it moved.
  • 1 0
 I am always worried about skunks on evening rides. I dont want to sleep in the garage.
  • 2 0
 What a cute little fluffy cuddle bear! Fab
  • 1 0
 Did it shit in the woods?
  • 1 0
 lucky do not have in Brazil
  • 1 0
 That's a "oh shit" moment!
  • 1 0
 Talk about powering out of a turn...
  • 1 0
 Same as I did last time, keep riding
  • 1 0
 Cow, Sheep, Kid, Bear, what comes next is interesting
  • 2 0
 Meals on wheels
  • 1 0
 Yeah, I'd be saying the same exact thing in that situation.
  • 1 0
 ABS Brakes!
  • 1 0
 I would poo
  • 1 1
 holly molly!
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